Our winter '09

I love the Christmas season. It's easily the time of the year when I feel most giving, most financially liberal, and most willing to get out and soak up the spirit of the season.  Naturally, I always have a huge laundry list of things that I want to do and see during Christmas before they're all gone until next year.

This post is to share with you some of the things Leila and I did during the winter of 2009.  Since I'm the one taking all the pictures on our outings, I feel it's appropriate that I be the one to share them:

CHRISTMAS AT THE GATEWAY
In late November, we took the camera out and went to the Gateway Mall.  They had their huge tree lit up in red, white, and green LEDs that had some interesting patterns. We spent some time at Barnes and Noble with a treat and some good "free read" magazines.

KUTV HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT
Leila joined up with the West Valley Symphony at the end of last year, and had a benefit concert for the Salvation Army Angel Tree.  I got to go to Cottonwood High and watch! The concert was great, and it was fun to have a violinist peeking over her music with a smile for me.

TEMPLE SQUARE & GARDNER VILLAGE
We of course paid a visit to Temple Square. I was slightly disappointed in the display this year - it seems in years past they've had a greater number of large trees lit up.  This year, with a bird's eye view from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, we had to look through so many dark, shadowy branches to see the lights on the smaller trees. I came away with some descent shots, though.

We also visited Gardner Village in West Jordan to see the displays they had set up there.  We had a fun experience with foggy lenses when we stopped in to the bathroom from the cold air outside, and enjoyed looking at the fun little elves they had all over the property.

PARK CITY
We also went up to Main Street in Park City for a walk under the lights.  We bought some chocolate treats from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and spent a little time in a bookstore there.  Some of the kids' books we saw brought back fun memories.

Something unexpected from that night was our stop at Flannigan's pub on Main.  We went in for a bite, and they had Battleship there to play.  The food was good, and we had fun with our new experience.  Leila liked the ladies' room - it had a golden sink.  The guys' wasn't quite as lavish ...

WE'RE ENGAGED ... SMILE!
My friend Amber came up to help us with a photo shoot the morning after our engagement.  We had a good time helping her learn a bit more about portraiture and showing off for the camera.

CHRISTMAS IN WA
Nine days passed as we were in WA with Leila's family for Christmas.  Her little brother, Derek, came home from his mission in New Jersey on the 21st - everybody was happy to have "leetle broder" back with the family. We enjoyed the holiday there and her parents and I hit it off pretty well. We saw lots of movies at the theater, spent time in Leavenworth to enjoy more of winter, loved the home cooking, and even spent an afternoon at the shooting club.

Here's some images from all of the above: